AMSTERDAM, N.Y. – The Union College baseball team earned a split with Skidmore College on senior day Sunday afternoon at Shuttleworth Park. Union fell in seven innings in game one 7-3 and battled back to win in game two, 11-8.

Game One: Skidmore 7, Union 3

Union loaded the bases in the first and senior Colby Nash drew a walk to score a run. Skidmore tied it up with a bases-loaded single in the third.

The Thoroughbreds took a 3-1 lead on a two-run homerun by Jackson Hornung in the fourth.

Union tied it up in the fifth with back-to-back solo homeruns. Nash drove a ball over the left field fence for his first homerun of the season and junior Thomas Parisi sent one over the right field fence for his first collegiate homerun.

After loading the bases to prompt a pitching change for Union, Jaden Torrado hit a grand slam over the left field fence to make it a 7-3 game.  

Sophomore Aidan McGee started for Union and fell to 3-4 on the season. McGee pitched 4.2 innings and allowed six runs on six hits, four walks, and one strikeout. Junior Bryce Fournier threw 1.1 innings of relief and allowed one run on two hits with one walk and a strikeout.

Game Two: Union 11, Skidmore 8

Union registered eight doubles in the second half of the twin bill. The last time Union scored eight or more doubles in a single game was on April 19, 2019, a 12-3 win over Vassar.

First-year Liam McIlroy had a massive game at the plate, going 4-for-5 with three doubles, a homerun, five RBI, and two runs scored.

After the first two batters reached base, junior Kobe Mentzer drove an RBI double into left center to put Union on the board, 1-0. Senior Jono Santos ground out in the next at-bat, but first-year Caleb Miller raced home from third for the score. Two batters later, McIlroy hit his first double of the day to put Union up 3-0. An RBI double by Mentzer in the second stanza extended Union's lead to four.

Skidmore's offense came alive in the top of the seventh inning, scoring eight runs in the frame to take an 8-4 lead.

Union battled back to tie it in the bottom of the frame with four runs. McIlroy drove in a run with an RBI double. Parisi and senior Jack Milone hit back-to-back singles to cut the lead to two with two runners on. Senior Dan Choate sent a double to deep center to score a pair of runs and tie the game at eight.

Santos hit his second double of the game into center and Nash drew a walk to put two runners on with one out. After first-year Jack Klein entered the game as a pinch runner, McIlroy had his biggest hit of the night, driving a homerun over the center field fence to give Union an 11-8 lead.

First-year Alex Oppenheimer had a strong start on the mound, pitching six complete innings, allowing only one hit, no runs, six walks, and eight strikeouts. Senior Ben Mlavsky surrendered seven runs, six earned, on three hits and three walks. Fournier allowed one run, unearned, on two hits with one strikeout. Sophomore Alex Erickson earned his second win of the season with two shutout innings and four strikeouts.

Prior to the game, Union recognized the members of the senior class: Jack Davis, Matt Beazoglou, Jack Milone, Dan Choate, Colby Nash, Harry Azadian, Jono Santos, Ben Mlavsky, Jason Goldblum, and Julian Lightburn.

Union is back in action on Tuesday with a nonconference game against Castleton University. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. at Central Park Diamond A in Schenectady.